Are Russia and Ukraine Heading Toward a Showdown in the Sea of Azov?

On Jan. 1, the commander of Ukraine's navy, Adm. Ihor Voronchenko, issued a statement saying that his force had made deployments to the Sea of Azov and increased the combat capabilities of its maritime, air and coastal units in response to Russian aggression in the area. This came after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned on Dec. 26, 2018, that the West should refrain from supporting any new "provocations" by Ukraine in the sea after a confrontation between Ukrainian and Russian naval ships in the last months of 2018....